Shimla: Bank staff struggling to manage the defunct old currency chests were in for a shock here at UCO main branch when they found that one trunk with over Rs 1 crore in the currency denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes that has been taken out of circulation had gone missing.
District police chief DW Negi in a crime report released for the day stated that a case of theft against unknown persons had been registered for the bank robbery.
Surender Kaul, the bank manager in his police complaint disclosed that the Naina Tikker branch of UCO Bank had deposited two trunks with the main branch on 6th December that contained Rs 3,37,75,500/- of currency in the defunct hi denomination currency.
During the process of reconciliation, the manager found that one of the trunk containing Rs 1,03,00,000/- was missing. Bank CCTV footage analysis revealed that that on 26th December, at about 4 p.m., an unknown person was seen stealing the trunk.
The police investigation team led by DySP Rajinder Sharma, who have scrutinized the footage believed that the thief appeared to be a local man who is quite visible in the footage. “We will nab him soon,” said the investigating officer.
With the police out to track him, the bank robber unless he did manage to launder the bounty before the window closed on 30th December, is left with a pile of useless currency on his hands that have no market value.
In the statewide demonetisation campaign, banks in Himachal Pradesh are said to have collected a total of Rs 6562 Crore in the old currency notes.
Mohan Verma is a seasoned journalist, with more than a decade of experience of active reporting for news agencies and fast paced online media.
